Microsoft Corporation has developed a product called "REALMATION," which is an educational computer product for young children. The product includes animated educational programs and physical characters ("REALMATION" performers), which are motorized plush toys that move and speak. When the child is using the program, a physical character "comes to life" and interacts with the user and with characters that are displayed on a display device. The physical character acts as a guide or friend to the child and provides assistance, encouragement, and guidance as the child uses the program. The physical character moves and speaks in response to signals that are retrieved from the educational program's storage medium and transmitted to the physical character. The physical character also includes various sensors for receiving input signals from the child.
Because the program content relies on interaction with the physical character, the physical character must be present in order for the software package to provide a satisfactory user experience. In other words, the programmed dialog and the "learning experience" will be incomplete without the involvement of the physical character. Because the physical character is a portable toy that runs on batteries, there will no doubt be times when the physical character will be unavailable. For example, the physical character may be unavailable because it has been moved to another room or its batteries are exhausted.
In one embodiment, the "REALMATION" program causes a computer to determine whether the physical character is available (i.e., in range and operative). If it is not, the computer prompts the user to locate the physical character and to turn it on. If the user does not activate the physical character, the program will not continue. This prevents the program from being used without the physical character, which, in many cases, would provide a less than satisfactory learning experience.
Because it is likely that the physical character will be unavailable from time to time, there is a need in the art for providing a substitute interactive character that will allow the "REALMATION" program to be used effectively despite the absence of the physical character. The system employs a physical character when it is available and provides a substitute character when the physical character is unavailable. The transition from the physical character to the substitute character should be transparent to the user and should maintain the continuity of the lesson or other content provided by the "REALMATION" program.